Ignacio Carrera-Justiz

1937 - 2023

Ignacio Carrera-Justiz
November 4, 1937 - February 18, 2023
Miami, Florida - Ignacio Carrera-Justiz, of Coral Gables and Key Biscayne, Florida sadly passed away Saturday February 18, 2023, at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, next to his loving wife Isis Rivero Carrera-Justiz. He was 85 years old.
Born in Havana, Cuba on November 4, 1937, Ignacio Raoul Carrera-Justiz was the oldest child of Ignacio Carrera-Justiz, an attorney and judge, and his beloved wife Clara Rodriguez Bacardi. He was the great-grandson of Don Emilio Bacardi.
He attended La Salle's Brothers school in Havana from first grade through High School and began his architectural studies at the University of Havana in 1955. He then went to Auburn University in Alabama where he received his architectural degree with honors,
He lived in Puerto Rico during his first years of practice, mostly designing buildings for the Bacardi Rum distillery in San Juan. He later moved to Miami where he established a practice that thrived until 2010 when he closed it. He was a registered architect both in Florida and Georgia, designing many houses in both states. One of his major projects was a building for the Bacardi Rum Company at the Biscayne Boulevard campus which recently became the School of the Arts campus. He was a lifelong member of the American Institute of Architects.
He married Sheila McFarlane and had a daughter, Sheila del Carmen from that marriage. His second wife, Maria Aurora Garcia, predeceased him. He recently married Isis Rivero Hoffman who survives him.
Ignacio lived life to the utmost. He enjoyed traveling, giving parties, playing guitar with friends and was a voracious reader, mostly of history. In his late years he enjoyed his wife's reading books to him on a daily basis, both in English and Spanish. He valued his lifetime friends and shared many cherished moments with them. He traveled extensively throughout the globe, visiting almost every continent during his lifetime. He enjoyed attending museums, art exhibitions and art collecting, leaving and extensive collection of mostly Cuban art. He also enjoyed classical music and loved opera, where he was a generous contributor. He participated in the boards of and contributed to many organizations in the area. He was a founding member and first president of the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami. He contributed to the establishment of the Herencia Cultural Cubana and donated his time to many civic organizations in Coral Gables.
He leaves his wife Isis and his daughter Sheila del Carmen. He also leaves his brother, Francisco Carrera-Justiz (wife Vivien) and his sister, Clara Maria del Valle (husband Mario), as well as many nieces and nephews.
If you wish to make a donation in Ignacio's memory, please consider The Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami Libraries: chc@miami.edu or Cuban Heritage Collection, PO Box 248214, Coral Gables, Fl. 33124-0320
A mass will be held for his soul at St. Raymond's Church on Thursday February 23, 2023, at 11 A.M. 3475 SW 17th Street, Miami, Fl. 33145